Parents: Teacher furlough sensible

LYNN – Paul Fucaloro’s three children attend the Sewell Anderson School and he does not want to see their teachers laid off to save the schools, and by extension, the city money.Fucaloro supports an unpaid furlough option for teachers that could save 100 jobs. With the schools facing a $1 million potential reduction in spending, layoffs equal to or exceeding that number are looming unless other financial alternatives, including furloughs, are explored.”I know people in the (school) system and they are fine with it,” Fucaloro said.Former City Councilor David Ellis’ 8-year-old attends Sewell and Ellis said the school is already taking cost saving steps in preparation for system-wide spending cuts. He said pre-planning and long-term cost cutting could have spared schools from serious cuts.The $1 million the schools potentially face losing is part of a $2.7 million cut in the city budget that must be made in reaction to reductions in state aid announced in late January by Gov. Deval Patrick.School budget makers have not announced the actual savings derived from asking teachers to take a day without pay. Another spending reduction plan calls for cutting up to $500,000 from various education accounts without cutting salaries.The furlough plan will need School Committee approval and Lynn Teachers Union members are reportedly scheduled to vote on the proposal Wednesday. Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. would like to see municipal unions act together on a single money saving proposal like furlough rather than acting separately.City Councilor Paul Crowley proposed a furlough day last year for all municipal employees and estimated the across-the-board savings for city government and schools was $700,000. In 2003, school employees voted to take a one-day furlough to save 20 jobs placed on the chopping block by state local aid cuts. At the time the savings amounted to about $250,000.We want to know what you think about the proposed furlough day. Itemlive.com has a poll on the proposal at the bottom of the home page.